DEVIL, DEVIL (Michael Langdon)

ii.

He was back.

It had been two years and he thought he had wiped his hands clean of the place, but he was back.

Hawthorne's School for Exceptional Young Men had been converted into a bunker and was renamed Outpost Three, though everything inside seemed the same as ever. The dusty chandeliers and the sconces on the walls that made the place glow with faint, flickering orange light. The lack of windows that made the place feel stiflingly hot and suffocating as if the walls were closing in and making Judas' world smaller with every breath he took. And he didn't think it was an accident he was put up in the room that had once been his when the place was still Hawthorne. The room was all too familiar, and no one had bothered to fix the spot on the wall where the initials J and M permanently marked the wood. Anyone who would have fixed it was dead now.

There were other people with him. Some he recognized; Dinah Stevens had always been a staple of his mother's TV and there wasn't a person in the world who didn't know Evie Gallant's name. But then there were the others, Dinah's son, Andre, and his boyfriend Stu. Evie's grandson, who, when Judas asked his name, only winked and said to call him Mr. Gallant. There was Coco Vanderbilt and her assistant, Mallory. Ms. Venable and her trusted lackey, Ms. Mead ran the outpost with an iron fist.

The strangest thing, however, was that everyone he had known from the school was gone. Behold, and Baldwin, and Ariel, and John Henry. All of the students. Everyone.

He didn't have very long to accept that truth. He was forced quickly into a new life as a 'Purple', a superior, essentially royalty in the world. That was a learning curve. He didn't have nearly as much entitlement as Evie or Coco, so having the 'Grays' do everything for him made him feel awkward. He could do things for himself. He hated feeling like a bother.

Two weeks after the blast, two new people were brought to the outpost. They had all been in the sitting room listening to Mr. Gallant complain when the pair entered. A boy and a girl. Neither were any older than Judas, and that gave him a semblance of hope as he looked at them. Maybe they would be more levelheaded than the others. Their presence, at least, made Mr. Gallant shut up about the song that had been playing on a loop for two weeks straight.

"Oh," Evie spoke up at the sight. "Well, well, well. New blood."

All eyes landed on the pair. Dinah was quick to rise from her seat. "Come in," she encouraged with her strangely calming voice. "Don't be shy."

"You're Dinah Stevens," the boy said, clearly shocked by her presence. "My mother used to watch your show. She said you beat the pants off Oprah any day."

Dinah smiled. "Bless her heart- - a million of her and I wouldn't have been replaced by that telenovela."

Mr. Gallant took a step toward them. "Um," he said, gaining their attention. "What's happening out there?"

They hesitated before the boy answer. "It's all gone."

"Everything," the girl agreed.

Gallant looked stunned. Judas took him by the arm, speaking softly. "What did you expect?"

Before Gallant could reply, Ms. Venable stepped into the room. Judas let go of Gallant quickly, hoping that the strict woman wouldn't take the touch as anything more than it was. Any sexual contact was strictly forbidden in Outpost Three. And while Ms. Venable narrowed her eyes at Judas, she said nothing, only rang the bell that called them to meals. "Dinner is served," she stated in her perpetually annoyed tone.